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News: Gundam Extreme Versus 2 Initial Roster And Location Tests AnnouncedNews: Gundam Extreme Versus 2 Initial Roster And Location... As the rest of the world has Gundam Versus on the PS4, Japanese arcades are gearing up for the upcoming Gundam Versus Extreme 2. On May 12 and 13, stores in Tokyo and Osaka...

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News: God Gundam and Master Gundam DLC Coming To Gundam Versus In JanuaryNews: God Gundam and Master Gundam DLC Coming To Gundam... It's been a long time coming, but God Gundam and Master Gundam are finally joining the Gundam Versus roster as the next DLC units in January. While we've had several melee...

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News: Aegis Gundam, GM Sniper II White Dingo Ver. and More Coming To Gundam Versus This DecemberNews: Aegis Gundam, GM Sniper II White Dingo Ver. and... This December, even more suits are being added to the ever growing Gundam Versus lineup. The first is Aegis Gundam, last seen in Gundam SEED Destiny: Rengou VS ZAFT II Plus...

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News: Atlas Gundam DLC Coming To Gundam VersusNews: Atlas Gundam DLC Coming To Gundam Versus If you were hoping for more Gundam Thunderbolt units, there's good news! Atlas Gundam will be joining the Gundam Versus roster as DLC in late November. This will more than...

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News: Gundam Versus To Add Phantom Gundam As DLC UnitNews: Gundam Versus To Add Phantom Gundam As DLC Unit As we await the upcoming Western release of Gundam Versus on September 29 on top of unreleased units such as Pale Rider and Gundam Guison Rebake, Phantom Gundam has been...

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Reviews: Armored Core V (9/10)

Posted on : 20-02-2012 | By : | In : Reviews

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Back in 2004 From Software released a suitably bonkers Xbox game, where you played the usurped President of the United States of America who also happened to have his own power armor. Called Metal Wolf Chaos, it was a brilliantly executed shooter that also had a wonderfully satirical bent to it. Mentioning it here is pertinent though, as the game’s scale and functionality bear a very large resemblance to that of Armored Core V.

Set in a depressingly apocalyptic future, Armored Core V has humanity waging war with all manner of weaponry but the most lethal of these are the newly discovered Armored Cores; mecha dug up from deep underground that retro-actively antiquate all modern day warfare. The premise is a more gritty take on Panzer World Galient as the setting is very close to our own present day. That said, From Software are still continuing to go the rounds on Ryosuke Takahashi’s works when it comes to inspiration for Armored Core it seems.

Considering that the game has been in production now for over 2 years, we weren’t sure what to expect. As normally the duration between releases is around a year but this is meant as a reboot of sorts and coupled with a pretty immense online setup, it’s a good thing they took some time with it. In any case, after the disappointment of Front Mission Evolved, this game is simply wondrous by comparison.

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News: Armored Core V Demo Issues

Posted on : 22-01-2012 | By : | In : News, Videos

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It’s sad to to report that since the release of Armored Core V’s demo, it has been plagued with problems. The most egregious of which is the inability to play the game online for the most part, something the demo was meant to offer (for a small time admittedly). To make matters more unfortunate, the game has trouble even running at 30 fps (with the PS3 version erring closer to 20 fps). Even with these faults it’s better than the likes of Front Mission Evolved, which is a pretty recent and relevant comparison (especially on the scale of the mecha). From what we’ve played though ACV is a lot of fun, with it handling a lot like a more deliberate Metal Wolf Chaos. The removal of the traditional weapon setup in favour of storing the weapons on the shoulders is an interesting development too, as you have to plan weapon switches ahead as the animation is quite long. In any case, a comparison video of the two demos (showing their respective framerates) is embedded below.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMU-208tJr8]

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News: No-shows at this year’s TGS

Posted on : 18-09-2010 | By : | In : News

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From the number of tweets we’ve been getting, it seems only fair to answer some of your questions. The recurring questions we’ve got regard the absence of Armored Core 5, Bumpy Trot 2 and Macross Trial Frontier. In the case of the latter, there is a looping movie being shown at the Bandai Namco stall but despite the game being finished there’s nothing playable at the show (though the game footage does look lovely and it’s pretty clear that the game is indeed very similar to Artdink’s recent PSP games). In addition, Irem have quite a nice presence this year but when we quizzed them about Bumpy Trot 2 they simply had a “no comment”. As for Armored Core 5? Absolutely nothing, not even a video preview and due to From Software not having a presence at the show we’ve been unable to quiz anyone about it.

Considering that Front Mission Evolved is playable in about three separate booths this year (despite being available in the shops already in Japan) it may be that From Software decided to wait this one out, as Armored Core 5 is potentially quite similar in approach. In any case, it’s not as though From Software needed to be worried as after playing Front Mission Evolved quite a bit its is really quite painfully average.

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News: Mecha Damashii at TGS

Posted on : 15-09-2010 | By : | In : News

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So we’re at this year’s Tokyo Games Show and over the next few days we’ll be giving our impressions on a variety of mecha games. From Front Mission Evolved (moderately meh) to Bangai-O HD (awesome) as well as lesser known games such as Danball Senki by Level 5 on the PSP. In any case, if there are any particular games you want details on then feel free to tweet us and we’ll do our best to oblige.

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Videos: Wanzers Evolved Developer Diary

Posted on : 29-06-2010 | By : | In : Videos

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Gametrailers recently uploaded an interesting dev diary for the upcoming Front Mission Evolved, as it covers a lot of ground on how the new game is handling the classic wanzers. From customisation to the three available leg types the game will offer, it’s all pretty standard Front Mission fare. However, one comment especially from Michael Willette (the game’s lead producer) concerns us. Specifically, around the 4:50 mark he talks about the responsive controls being something no-other mecha game has yet offered. From the various reports from E3, as well as before that, it’s clear that the jury’s still very much out on that statement. In addition, that kind of comment is a pretty bold claim considering the scope of mecha gaming. After all, games like Armored Core For Answer have the player travel in excess of 2,000 km/h just in normal gameplay. I’m not sure how much more responsive you can get from that without your eyeballs/hands melting. In any case bold comments infused with testicular fortitude aside, we’re still curious to check the game out come its September release.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=701164]

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News: Front Mission Alternative Translation

Posted on : 13-05-2010 | By : | In : News

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Those indomitable people over at FrontMission.info are in the process of finally translating one of the most interesting entries into the Front Mission saga. Specifically, the far more RTS focused Front Mission Alternative. Unlike most other Front Mission games, Alternative didn’t use the fixed turn based approach to strategy, instead it opted for a real time command system using a form of waypoints. In terms of development Alternative was actually meant as a means for Square Enix to recoup the very large development costs for Front Mission 2 at the time, as it shared much of its core technology. As a consequence, the game was released less than three months after Front Mission 2 (a game that the above translation team are also studiously working upon). In any case, it will be wonderful to think that more people will be able to appreciate Front Mission Alternative in the not too far off future, especially with the far more action focused Front Mission Evolved around the corner. The team have also been kind enough to put together a trailer for their upcoming release, which we’ve linked below.

Spoiler

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5nrw_8pf9w]

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News: Border Break Hands-On

Posted on : 03-10-2009 | By : | In : News

Hardware:

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border_break_new_screen2

The newly released arcade mecha game, Border Break seems to be on the right track. The same Mecha Damashii reader that gave us a lowdown on the upcoming Front Mission Evolved also ventured down to the arcades to check out SEGA’s new mecha gaming effort for himself. From the extensive amount of videos that have been posted online, via SEGA no less, Border Break looks to be superb in almost every way. Thankfully, the following impressions back that up and then some.

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